UFC London results: Arnold Allen standing TKO’s Dan Hooker, Paddy Pimblett subs Kazula Vargas

The UFC London main card has been extremely lit thus far, with four fantastic finishes across the first five fights — a standing TKO, a crazy comeback KO, and a Knockout of the Year candidate!

Today’s co-main event was blessed with the UFC’s #7 ranked featherweight, Arnold Allen, picking up a first-round standing TKO on the #8 ranked lightweight, Dan Hooker, who was moving down to 145-pounds. This was a thriller from the word go, as Allen blitzed Hooker with lengthy punching combos that were doing damage. Hooker responded with punches of his own, and even dropped Allen to one knee, but Arnold was not to be denied. Allen stayed the course and continued to pour on the volume until the referee told him to stop.

Before that, Paddy Pimblett pulled a Paddy Pimblett when he ate a huge punch to start the fight, recovered, and then submitted Rodrigo Vargas with a rear-naked choke. As expected, the English crowd went crazy, and even Molly McCann stormed the Octagon in celebration. Pimblett keeps posting up wins, and keeps giving people something to talk about. He also declined the offer that Ilia Topuria made earlier tonight after he won his match. What will be next for Paddy “The Baddy?”

Also on the main card, Gunnar Nelson returned to action to run away with the scorecards against Takashi Sato. Nelson owned the fight on the floor, and took the back in each round, but just couldn’t sniff out the finish. Nonetheless he was still dominant, earned three scores of 30-26, and earned his first win since 2018.

We got one of the cleanest KO’s that you’ll ever see in the women’s flyweight division when Molly McCann devastated Luana Carolina with a crafty spinning elbow. The finish came in the third, as Molly set up the technique from the clinch, and executed it perfectly. This is a Knockout of the Year candidate if I’ve ever seen one! Carolina was down for some time, but hopefully she isn’t badly hurt.

The UFC London main card started with a wild one! Ilia Topuria was dropped and badly hurt in the opening round on a few occasions, but came back at the start of the second frame to score a huge knockout on Jai Herbert. It was a technical yet powerful left hand to the body followed by an overhand right to the head that ended the match. After his recent altercation with Paddy Pimblett, it was only natural for the now 12-0 Topuria to call him out.

**See complete results below

Main card:

Arnold Allen def. Dan Hooker by TKO at 2:33 of round 1: Featherweight

This one wasted no time to get underway. Allen rocked Hooker with his boxing combos, and then poured it on. Hooker covered and tried too weather the storm, and actually dropped Allen to one knee. Allen stood up and went right back to work, overwhelming Hooker with punch, after punch. Miraculously Hooker remained on his feet, but a non-stop barrage of punches and elbows were being unloaded. The referee had no choice to step in and stop the fight, and Allen earned himself a standing TKO.

Paddy Pimblett def. Rodrigo Vargas by submission (RNC) at 3:49 of round 1: Lightweight

The bout started with Vargas stinging Pimblett with a punch right away. He then quickly took top position, and started controlling. Pimblett used the fence to work back to his feet, but he had to defend Vargas attempting the takedown. A sweet toss gave Pimblett top position, and then it was only a matter of time before he was on the back. He attacked the neck of Vargas and cranked away with a rear-naked choke, giving Rodrigo the option of tapping or napping. Vargas tapped.

Gunnar Nelson def. Takashi Sato by unanimous decision (30-26 x3): Welterweight

A ton of feeling out took place on the feet across a lot of the opening round, with few significant strikes being landed. Then, Nelson found himself a takedown and quickly took the back. He started landing strikes from the backpack position, instead of working for a submission. Sato just covered up the best he could while still protecting his neck.

Sato pressed forward in the second act again, but Nelson was meeting him with counter crosses. Around the midpoint of the round, Nelson shot his takedown and moved right into side control. He methodically transitioned to the back, and began striking as he looked to get around the neck.

Nelson got his takedown a lot quicker in the final round than he did in the previous two. He went right to the back again, and resumed his onslaught of punches from the backpack. Sato was doing a great job of not allowing Nelson to sink the RNC, but his offense was pretty much non-existent.

Molly McCann def. Luana Carolina by KO at 1:52 of round 3: (W) Flyweight

McCann stung her opponent early with some heavy hands. Once she saw that Carolina was hurt, she swarmed with a flurry of punches trying to force a finish. Carolina recovered, but McCann stayed on her which made it difficult for Luana to mount her own offense. Molly kept throwing her punches in bunches, but Carolina refused to drop.

The second round saw a more reserved McCann, but she was still leading the dance. She found herself on the top of side control, and after a bit of control she elected to stand back up. On the feet, Carolina landed a few knees on the inside, a couple of elbows, and then some straight punches in open space. McCann then closed out the round with a lifting slam.

McCann started the final round with some pep in her step. She was grooving out there and landing some kicks to the body, and was also trying to go upstairs to the head. Then McCann did the unthinkable. She uncorked a vicious spinning elbow that landed perfectly, instantly rendering Carolina unconscious. OMG!

Ilia Topuria def. Jai Herbert by KO at 1:07 of round 2: Lightweight

Herbert dropped Topuria with a pretty head kick within the first minute of the fight. Topuria instantly began to force the wrestling, and despite a fence grab from Herbert, he was able to get the fight to the floor. A cut was opened up on Topuria, possibly from the kick. Herbert stood back to his feet and delivered a knee to the grill that rocked Topuria again. Another mean knee came towards the end of the round that removed the mouthpiece of Topuria.

Well, the second act went a whole lot differently than the first-round. Topuria pressed forward and at the end of a four-piece, he landed a wicked left hand to the body and then came over the top with the right hand to the jaw. Herbert dropped like a sack of potatoes and no followup was needed.